Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture

Having read The Black Jacobins, C.L.R. James's still-classic 1938 account of the Haitian Revolution, earlier this year, I was curious what a modern version could add to the story. Even more than James, Hazareesingh focuses on the miraculously compelling figure of Toussaint Louverture, and from the mists of legend is able to create the picture of a man. Inevitably, the first 45 years of his life, spent largely in undocumented slavery, can only be speculated about, but once he ascends to power, there is a wealth of records to work from—much of it from Toussaint's own voluminous letter-writing—and by carefully tracking Toussaint's maneuvers through the tightest of domestic and international squeezes and by documenting his self-educated and sometimes idiosyncratic wisdom, he makes you understand both the brilliant improbability of his success and the tragedy of his personal failure, just as his country was headed toward independence.